Left-wing lobby group GetUp! launches anti-pokies campaign in state

Influential lobby group GetUp! has set its sights on Tasmania’s poker machine industry, launching a pre-state election campaign to advocate for the removal of electronic gaming machines from pubs and clubs.

GetUp! campaign director Emily Mulligan was backed by a group of protesters outside Parliament House on Wednesday.

60 people at Tassie Parliament today calling to get pokies out of pubs and clubs!

“We are calling for bold leadership in Tasmania to make sure we can get pokies out of pubs and clubs,” Ms Mulligan said.

Federal Group corporate affairs manager Daniel Hanna said groups like GetUp! “routinely ignore the fact that Tasmania’s gaming sector is widely acknowledged to be governed by the strictest regulations, which ultimately means we have some of the lowest levels of problem gambling in Australia”.